Is Blue Buffalo dog food ‘built on lies’?

There’s a dog-food feud going on. Purina has accused Connecticut-based Blue Buffalo of lying to its customers about the all-natural dog food.

Blue Buffalo is based in the small town of Wilton, but its advertising campaign is anything but small. You’ve probably seen their commercials, which show pet owners lamenting over the over-processed food they used to feed their pets before they bought Blue Ribbon.

According to Business Week, founder and chairman, William Bishop, “boasts [the advertising] is deliberately ‘in-your-face,’ and encourages ‘pet parents’ to compare the Buff to the competition.”

If that doesn’t ring a bell, maybe you’ve seen the Saturday Night live skit parodying the commercials. “The mock commercial for ‘Blue River’ dog food aired on NBC in April. Guest host Seth Rogen and SNL cast member Cecily Strong played the sort of overwrought consumers who philosophize about pet nutrition in Blue Buffalo’s actual ads,” Business Week writes.

But Purina does not think this is funny. According to Business Week, the 120-year-old company, which controls a third of the pet food market, sued Blue Buffalo for false advertising in May.

Purina has seen a decline in business due to organic, natural brands like Blue Buffalo – and Purina’s chief marketing director says it’s all “based on lies” and a “smear campaign.”

According to Business Week, Purina says Blue Buffalo’s “key ingredient claims aren’t true, and they have a history of exaggerating what their products do.”